MTG Tournament Reports

Went back for my first FNM since sometime in June. Ended up making it into Top 8 and then being eliminated in the first round. I'll do a quick recap and keep things short. Went with Naya again, though I'm not sure how happy I am with the direction that I've taken it. It's much more akin to an Aggro deck now, which isn't exactly what I want. I'll have to take the deck back to the drawing board--because I really like it, but don't exactly want to play Aggro like that.

More on that later. Here's the Swiss Rounds breakdown:

R1 vs. Stephen (Dimir Control) 2-0
This match started quickly. He had a lot of removal, with things like Doom Blade, Far//Away, and Essence Scatter/Syncopate. In the end though, he ran out of answers and had nothing for my Thundermaw Hellkite, that managed to attack twice. Game two played out much the same. Though I boarded in Pithing Needles, Sigarda, and a Witchbane Orb to protect me from his sac effects and Drownyards. In the end, he wasted his counterspells on my Voices, Oozes, leaving me the chance to drop a pair of Thragtusks, a Sigarda (which he had NO answer for), and a Thundermaw.

R2 vs. Tom (Naya Blitz) 1-2
I got kinda steamrolled this round, even though I knew what he was playing. Game 1 he took over with multiple Champions of the Parish and Silverblade Paladins. I managed a sneak-win Game 2 through some bad blocking choices and a timely Selesnya Charm pump. Game 3 I couldn't even muster a decent defense before he took it over with Sigarda and Gavony Township.

R3 vs. Marcus (Nivix Blitz) 2-0
I took this rather handily, even though he dropped me to 10 via Guttersnipe. I never let him start pumping his Nivix Cyclops, and his removal couldn't handle stuff like Thundermaw Hellkite and my Reckoners. Game 2 unfolded the same way, except he couldn't get any offense going. I had lots of removal. Despite him countering an Aurelia and a Thundermaw, my Scavenging Ooze and Boros Reckoners were enough to get through.

R4 vs. Tony (Bant Enchantments) 2-1
He took a mull-to-5 in Game 1, putting him at a severe disadvantage. Despite that, I continually managed to get the offensive going with Thundermaw, Voices, Oozes, and the rest. Game 2 he dropped a Sublime Archangel and gave it pro-whatever with Brave the Elements to get past my blockers and kill me. Game 3 stalled out for a while, despite him exiling 2 of my Thundermaws with Rings and Charms. I finally managed to survive at 1 with his attack, then pump with Gavony and Selesnya Charm for exactly lethal.

R5 vs. Eric (Junk Reanimator)
We split because we were a shoe-in for Top 8 and he was playing a Warcraft game.

Top 8 Vs. Matt (Orzhov Control) 1-2
Game 1 I had an awesome draw. Ghor-Clan Bloodrushing over his Mutavault with my Voice of Resurgence, and having enough creatures to tap down his Desecration demon and hit for lethal. Games 2 & 3 I over-sideboarded and lost some of that aggression. I also never drew my removal, like Selesnya Charm or Bonfire. And eventually his Desecration Demons and Restoration Angels ran me over. I also never got past 3 lands on game 3. So all my Thundermaw draws weren't very useful.

===

Overall I liked the way the deck played. I think if I keep going this route I'd have to cut some of the less-aggro creatures for a full set (or 3x) of Ghor-Clan Rampagers. Right now the deck is very much in the middle of things. Not Aggro, not Midrange (enough). I might want to try and move back towards Midrange. But Naya functions better with a higher creature base. We'll see. I never played the typical control decks, so Boros Charm and Pithing Needle didn't really help out all that much. Neither did Witchbane Orb. Though there were some decks that I might have played where those would be better off.

I figured this was my last chance to play with the cards that I've been really enjoying for the past year or so, and I tweaked my deck accordingly. I'd already taken apart the other Standard decks that I'd built for the season (UWR Midrange and Jund Midrange), so that left me with my usual Naya Midrange deck, Naya on the Warpath. I've loved this deck since GTC released the powerhouses of Aurelia, the Warleader, Domri Rade, Boros Reckoner, and Boros Charm. With the aggression of Thundermaw Hellkite, the hard-to-deal-with Sigarda, Host of Herons, Avacyn's Pilgrim mana-fixing, and the Checklands (Clifftop Retreat, Sunpetal Grove, and Rootbound Crag) leaving the format, I knew the deck just wouldn't be the same. Sure, things would be replacing what I lose, but it things would certainly have to change.

I went in with a modified list, eschewing my previous Restoration Angels for Ghor-Clan Rampager. I also cut back to a single Aurelia, the Warleader and only 2x Scavenging Ooze to make room 2x for Sigarda, Host of Herons in the maindeck. Finally, I cut the 2x Bonfire of the Damned for a Boros Charm and a Garruk Relentless, which were actually very solid additions. Finally, I tweaked the board to add some lifegain, some catch-all removal, and the Blasphemous Act to combo with Boros Reckoner.

Round 1 vs. Brandon (GW Humans) 2-0
I had some very strong starts this round. Ghor-Clan Rampager proved his worth as a more-than-one-of and I just kept smashing through his defenses. Thundermaw proved a powerhouse once again, and combined with the lone Boros Charm let me take an easy sweep through this round.

Round 2 vs. Jeff (UW Control) 2-1
Jeff had recently Top-4'd a SCG open with a UWR version of his deck, but the lack of red kinda hurt him this matchup. Game 1 I opened with a Voice of Resurgence to keep him from casting too many spells. Sigarda was also a huge problem for him, especially combined with Domri Rade. He managed to gain quite a bit of life with Blind Obedience and keep me from attacking right away. But I swept through in the end. Game 2 went back and forth quite well. But a series of Supreme Verdicts and a Planar Cleansing left it just impossible for me to fight back. Game 3 was back, solidly, in my favor. All I took damage from was a shockland. In the end, it wasn't even Thundermaw or Sigarda that won me the day, but Voice of Resurgence and its tokens.

Round 3 vs. Tom (Golgari Control) 2-1
I took Game 1 rather handily. Fighting through his removal, and Mutilates with Ghor-Clan bloodrushes, Boros Reckoners, and Sigarda. Game 2 I struggled on mana and he just had too much going. He got Liliana of the Veil and Vraska both going at once. Game 3 I came back with a vengeance. Fighting damage through with Thragtusks and Desecration Demons. At one point, I revealed a Loxodon Smiter off Domri Rade while he had Liliana of the Veil out on his side of the field. He proceeded to + Liliana on his next turn and gave me a free Smiter. He managed to force me into sacing via Liliana and destroyed something with Thundermaw. I dropped Aurelia next turn (at 4 life) and killed both Planeswalkers, and then had Boros Charm backup for next turn.

Round 4 vs. Josh (Naya Aggro - probably) Split
We were both undefeated and guaranteed for Top 8, so we split.

Top 8 vs. Brandon (Gruul "Stuff") 2-0
Both of us started out well enough. I managed a Turn 2 Boros Reckoner while he enchanted a Gladecover Scout with Madcap Skills (but didn't attack). I attacked the next turn with my Smiter, then Bloodrushed and Boros Charmed, dealing 16 damage and knocking him to 1. He scooped it up. He managed a bit more offense Game 2, but I stabilized with a Huntmaster of the Fells and allowed him to transform, knocking him down to 8. Then, with Reckoner of the field, I cast Blasphemous Act, and won the match.

Top 8 vs. Eric (Big Boros) 2-1
We had a pretty good Game 1. I managed a Turn 2 Domri Rade, which let me pick off his creatures with Boros Reckoners. I cast Aurelia with him at 7, knocked him to 1, and he scooped. Game 2 I kept a terrible mull-to-6, and was dead before I even knew it. Game 3 was a slobberknocker. He probably had the game if he'd played smarter, and if he remembered that his red burn spells could get back Chandra's Phoenix from his graveyard. I had Garruk, the Veil-Cursed out, which allowed me to pick off his smaller creatures. At one point, he cast Zealous Conscripts, stole my Garruk, and sacrificed the Conscripts to search his library for a Thundermaw Hellkite to put in his hand. That would have won him the game (with me at 5), but I drew a Selesnya Charm. The next turn, with him at 11, I sacrificed a Deathtouch Wolf to search out my own Thundermaw. Played it, swung with it and another wolf (6 damage) and cast Boros charm to give my Thundermaw double strike and exactly lethal damage.

Top 8 vs. Tom (Golgari Control) Split
Neither of us felt like playing the last round again. I was still pretty intent on playing the Midnight prerelease and didn't want to be burned out.

In the end, I got $20 store credit, a promo, and had a fantastic time. I really loved the way this deck played tonight. Sigarda, Garruk, Huntmaster, and Thundermaw were all-stars. And it was a great sendoff. Plus, I finally got to assemble my Blasphemous Act + Boros Reckoner combo to kill someone. I had a great last FNM for the Innistrad Standard season. Couldn't have asked for a better night.

With the fiancé out and about on Medical Residency interviews I decided to meet with some friends I hadn't seen in a while for a bit of FNM. It'd been…well…I hadn't played a serious Standard game since October 18th. Almost 2 months. That's a long time to be out of the format. Luckily I've kept up with developments and deck strategies, so I was well aware of how things were progressing.

On the other hand, I hadn't made changes to my deck since then either. Or since eschewing the Gruul Devotion deck for straight up Gruul Aggro/Midrange. I hadn't been doing too well in the RTR-THS era Standard. But I also hadn't really played much with Gruul either. So I was looking forward to it. This store has some very high level players, and I anticipated a slew of the devotion decks. Specifically Blue, Black, and Red-based decks. And that's exactly what I got.

I'll do a quick write-up of the 3 rounds, because I kept things pretty relaxed and didn't take that many notes. I'll write basically what I remember, which isn't my Sideboarding, unfortunately.

Round 1 vs. Eric (Mono-Blue Devotion) 2-1
I took Game 1 pretty handily. I was on the receiving end of a few hits from Judge's Familiar, but I had Polukranos and Domri Rade relatively early. Domri allowed me to fight an evolved Cloudfin Raptor, and killing Domri with the Familiar left him open to a 5-point swing by Polukranos. I followed with a Kalonian Tusker. He dropped Master of Waves with a whole lot of devotion out. I had enough mana to activate Polukranos's Monstrous ability (X=1). He responded with a Rapid Hybridization, and I responded in turn by activating the Monstrous ability a second time (with the first still on the stack and thus not yet resolved). Polukranos killed the Master, I got a beast, and I swung in with the Tusker to drop him to 12. He was on the defensive, and I swing the next turn with the Beast and the Tusker to drop him to 6. He hit an overloaded Cyclonic Rift, but I flashed in a Boon Satyr and played a Stormbreath Dragon next turn.

Game 2 was much more solidly in his favor. The matchup isn't very interactive, so it basically boils down to who hits who hardest and fastest. I took a few hits from Raptors and Familiars before he dropped Thassa and a Nightveil Specter. Still, I had also managed to play a Mistcutter Hydra with 5 counters on it to put him at 10. I had a Boon Satyr in hand and managed to hit him down to 1 life. But with Thassa active and Nykthos in play, I was dead next turn.

Game 3 was a bit more back-and-forth. I hit a turn 4 Stormbreath Dragon (I would have had it a turn earlier, but he killed my Elvish Mystic). A second dragon on turn 5 knocked him down to 8 life. But then he overloaded another Cyclonic Rift and knocked the 2 dragons and some mana dorks back to my hand. I hand 6 mana next turn, so I cast my dragon and passed to him. He played a Thassa and didn't swing in. I drew Ghor-Clan Rampager. I attacked with the dragon, and he blocked with the Familiar (which, looking back, he shouldn't have been able to do, b/c pro-White). I bloodrushed, knocking him to 1. Then used Flesh//Blood to kill him the rest of the way. Even if he'd blocked with just Nightveil, I would have won the game.

Round 2 vs. Ross (Junk Devotion-ish Midrange) 2-1Game 1 here was solidly in his favor. I put up a strong offensive, but made a mistake and attacked my Polukranos into his bigger Scavenging Ooze. It was a dumb move. And I have no idea why I did it. He had Desecration Demon, Pack Rat, a huge Ooze, and Erebos out on the field to my field of mana dorks. Even with Nylea and a lot of mana, I couldn't push through enough damage.

Game 2 I took it easily, even with a mull-to-6. I only took damage from a shockland. I played out Xenagos, a Boon Satyr bestowed Kalonian Tusker, and a Scavenging Ooze. Those, combined with Flesh//Blood dropped him to 8 as I played Purphoros. I made a Satyr with Xenagos (2 dmg from the god), played a Polukranos (another 2 dmg), and swung in.

Game 3 was much the same. He mulled to 6 and opened with Shockland-into-Thoughtseize, taking my Domri Rade but essentially starting him at 16 life. I still managed to play a Scavenging Ooze and a Xenagos to keep the pressure up. I had a few Satyrs in play and dropped Ruric Thar. He Pithing Needled my Xenagos and took 6 damage, dropping to 5. Even with Whip of Erebos out, I had Ruric Thar and Stormbreath Dragon swinging in (and going Monstrous).

Round 3 vs. Vitorio (Red Devotion)
With me being 2-0, we decided to just play for fun and he'd give me the win, dropping. I got 9 packs that way as opposed to the 2 or 3 we'd each get if he won or we split. I'm not really sure how the games went, since I didn't even bother writing down life totals. Red Devotion is beastly. Fanatic of Mogis is rough on anyone with Burning Tree, Frostburn Weird, and Boros Reckoner out. Sometimes you take upwards of 12 damage from a 4-mana 4/2 just coming into play.

So I had a decent deck made, and decided that since it was a local tournament, I'd go down and try and win. 99 person tournament so 7 rounds of Swiss. I'm just going to get straight to the report. Also, where this event was 2 days ago, I'm just going to do a few sentences on each game, I can't remember each game move for move, and I forgot to take notes.

I'm just going to say one thing, I hate Mono Black with a burning passion after this tournament.

Round 1 - Mono-Black Devotion (Cody)

Game 1- I took this game rather easily, Elspeth and Boros Reckoner and removal for all of there creatures.

Sideboarding

+3 Slaughter Games, +2 Pithing Needle
-2 Dreadbore

Game 2- She took this game, my lack of removal, her Desecration Demons, Gray Merchant, and Lifebane Zombies.

Game 3- Same as Game 2, Lifebane Zombies took all of my creatures away.

0-1-0

Round 2 - Golgari Midrange

Game 1 - We actually didn't play this game, I had a mess up on my deck registration (forgot my one of Whip of Erebos) and I had to take a Game 1 loss.

Game 2- I hit everything pretty much when I needed it, I killed his Reaper of the Wilds the turn they played it, and just killed them with Blood Barons.

Game 3- Pretty much the same as Game 2. Took it pretty quick, with 30 minutes left in the round.

Round 3- Mono Black Devotion

Look at Round 1 and you have Round 3.

Round 4- Mono White something

Game 1- I took this with Reckoner a 10/10 Blood Baron and a Whip of Erebos.

Game 2 - a T1 Solider of the Pantheon, T2 Precinct Captain, T3 Ajani, and T4 Heliod gave him the game.

Game 3- Went pretty similar to Game 1, I had 3 Reckoners by T5, and he couldn't do anything

Round 5 - R/G Monsters

Game 1- I actually made this guy scoop. I hit a T6 Elspeth, after a T3 Reckoner, and a T5 Blood Baron of Vizkopa. T6 I played Elspeth, made 3 dudes. He had nothing on board creature wise. Turn 7 I made 3 dudes, played another Elspeth and made 3 more dudes, he said Good Game and scooped.

Game 2 - He won this one because of an explosive start, T1 Elvish Mystic, T2 Domri, T3 Xenagos. Couldn't stablize.

Game 3- This was similar to Game 1 without the second Elspeth.

Round 6- Mono Black Devotion

Look at Round 1 for this round report

Round 7 - B/w (White was Obzedat and Blood Baron)

Game 1- He didn't hit any White and didn't have an answer for 2 Blood Barons

I'd never been to an SCG event before. I'd done mostly FNM, Game Day, and then some other bigger local tournaments. But this was the largest Magic-related thing I'd ever done. And I decided to take it pretty seriously, especially my preparation. I ground out a lot of games on Cockatrice…more for getting a better handle on different deck configurations, but also to try and figure out some other matchups. As usual with Cockatrice, your matches can be…interesting. Sometimes you get people testing far-out brews and wonky cards, or people just don't know how to play. But you can also get people who actually know what they're doing, and those really helped.

I also tested with the other local players who were going to the Open. We jammed games and I tested against UW Control, Mono Blue, Mono Black, Mono Black-splashing-White, GR Monsters, and Esper Control. Oddly enough we didn't test against the White-based Aggro decks or the Red-based Aggro decks…not sure why. Though I did play against a lot of those on Cockatrice. I was particularly worried about my GW Aggro matchup, since it was particularly bad, but I never played against it at the Open or the Open Trial, so…yay?

I did a bit of deck-editing during these tests, removing Flesh//Blood completely and going up to a full set of Mizzium Mortars. A friend of mine was on the same deck archetype, and explained that Mizzium Mortars almost always won you the game. He also advocated some number of Kalonian Hydra. As it was rather strong against Mono-Black, any sort of Green-based deck, and also in the mirror (plus it worked well when Polukranos and Stormbreath went monstrous, and with both Scavenging Ooze and Mistcuttyer). He'd won the SCG Standard Open in Cleveland last Fall, so I decided to take his advice, certainly for testing. In the end, he was pretty much right. Kalonian Hydra was a 2-of in my deck and it was always a solid draw. Mortars was also excellent, and I won several games off of an early-turn Overload.

I'll do a quick-ish run down of how my rounds played out, as well as how I remember sideboarding for them.

Round 1 vs. Eric (BW Midrange) 2-0Game 1: I won the roll and kept my opening 7. He began with a Thoughtseize, but I had plenty of gas to get through it. His only real offensive was an Archangel of Thune, which I promptly hit with a Mizzium Mortars. He managed to land another one and then cast Obzedat, Ghost Council the next turn. Bringing him from 2 to 9 life. But I had a Stormbreath Dragon going Monstrous to kill him.

Game 2: I struggled a bit on this one, and he managed to force me down to 5 life overall. Despite two Thoughtseizes in a row, I was able to deal 13 points of damage when I dropped double Ghor-Clan Rampager on my Polukranos. He began his slow rise back up from there thanks to Archangel of Thune and my not drawing a Mizzium Mortars in time to make it count. I dropped to 5 life and he climbed his way up to 12 with a 6/7 Angel before I found Chandra to keep his Obzedat from blocking and attack through his tapped Angel with Kalonian Hydra and the Dragon for exactly lethal.

Round 2 vs. M1tthew (GR Monsters) 2-0Game 1: was very easily in my favor. I'm not sure exactly how things played out, but I ended the game at 21 life (and was at 23 by some point). He ended up falling to his own Shockland damage that put him in range of a next-turn Stormbreath Dragon.

Game 2: was a bit more back and forth. He began on the offensive with an early-turn Stormbreath Dragon and Mutavaults, but I dropped an early Bow of Nylea to help offset some damage. I was dropped to 7 at one point, but between Scavenging Ooze and the Bow I got myself back to 18 by the end of the game, but not before Overloaded a Mizzium Mortars to clear his 2 Dragons and his Mana Dorks. After that I was back in the game. Making my Scavenging Ooze bigger and dropping other fatties. The Bow and a Chandra locked him out of the game.

Round 3 vs. Arbob (GR Devotion) 1-2Game 1: I won the roll and took over with an early Polukranos and dropped him down to 0 with just four swings. That was all she wrote.

Sideboard In: 2x Shock
Sideboard Out: 2x Boon Satyr

Game 2: I started off well enough, fighting through his Arbor Colossus and getting him all the way down to 8. But he dropped Polukranos and had Nykthos active fore HUGE mana, and I just couldn't retaliate.

Game 3: I encountered a similar roadblock, but this time it was 2 Arbor Colossi. I was also a bit stuck on mana, and without my Kalonian Hydra getting out early enough there was just no way to get through. I'm not totally disappointed though. Arbob ended up placing 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] or 4[SUP]th[/SUP] overall.

Round 4 vs. Zack (Mono Blue Devotion) 0-2Game 1: I did my best to get some offensive going. But he had Tidebinder Mage and Rapid Hybridization to shut down everything I could get on board. The beatdown with Thassa finished me off.

Game 2: I was forced taking a mull-to-6 and eventually was stuck on removal. I attempted to go Monstrous with Polukranos to kill his Master of Waves, but he hit me with the Cyclonic Rift and followed his next turn with Tidebinder to tap down my blocker and swing in for exactly lethal + 1.

Round 5 vs. Andrew (Mono Black – Splashing White) 2-0Game 1: This was a complete shut-out. I was on the play and simply smashed face. I was worried about this matchup for a minute, but this game showed I had the durability to survive Thoughtseize into all their removal. I just had more threats than they could deal with. Especially once Scavenging Ooze came into play.

Game 2: He was on the play, but I got just as aggressive. I got hit by Lifebane Zombie, but Chandra, Pyromaster got rid of it quick enough. Then he dropped a Blood Baron, but I had the mortars to follow through. Mutavault did a lot of work, chipping him down slowly slowly. And then I dropped a Kalonian Hydra to seal the deal.

Round 6 vs. Nick (UWR Aggro) 2-1Game 1: It was an interesting deck, and one I hadn't done much practicing against at all, so I was really just figuring him out as I played. Once I saw White, I was confident enough with my Stormbreath Dragons. He played both Boros Reckoner and Fiendslayer Paladin, making an imposing blockade, but my dragons flew overhead and finished it. He had, at a point, been forced to play an Elspeth and immediately wrath my single Dragon, leaving Elspeth open to a Xenagos Satyr/Elvish Mystic assault. And the second dragon sealed the deal.

Game 2: He dominated this game. I tried my best to get a good offensive going. And managed to Overload a Mizzium Mortars on his board (though Boros Reckoner then hit me for 4). In the end a combination of Elspeth and another Reckoner knocked me from the game.

Game 3: I totally dominated. I managed an early turn Kalonian Hydra and there was just nothing he could do. He was stuck a bit on mana. At one point (after declaring my Hydra as an attacker) he tried to Turn (not burn) it. But because of Magic's layers, my hydra was still stocked with +1/+1 counters. Not only that, but his ability had already triggered and doubled it to 8 (I was skeptical of this, but a judge confirmed it) and Turn actually made him an 8/9. Along with a Stormbreath Dragon and an Elvish Mystic (in case of some removal like Celestial Flare) he was knocked from 18 to 5. He managed to wrath my board, but I played a Scavenging Ooze and another Dragon. He scooped.

Round 7 vs. Chris (UW Control) 1-2Game 1: This round was my last loss of the night. He ran me out of game 1 with a bunch of Sphinx's Revelations, near-perfect removal, and an Elspeth. I managed to draw 3 Mizzium Mortars in a row.

Game 2: I stomped. I managed to drop a Turn 3 Ruric Thar and he had absolutely no way to answer it. I followed it up with a few more bombs, and he had to scoop.

Game 3: He had answers to all my threats. He put D'Sphere on my Kalonians, Dissolved my Rurics, Sphere'd my Walkers, Flare'd my Dragons, and landed Elspeth to lock me out of the game. This matchup is usually better for me, but in this game I was just a little too slow/sloppy, and he simply out-played me.

Round 8 vs. Jason (GR Monsters) 2-1Game 1: was very back-and-forth. With each of us killing each other's threats and swinging in. The final turn with me at 3 and him at 2), he managed to Overload his own Mizzium Mortars and swing in with a Dragon (I think).

Game 2: I curbstomped. Kalonian Hydra and Stormbreath Dragon did all the work, and I never took a single point of damage.

Game 3: This was a real crazy game. He managed to hit me down to 4 with a combination of a Stormbreath Dragon, Wtichstalker, and Blood. I managed to Overload a Mortars just in time, but he followed up with a Scavenging Ooze, ticking up to 24 life. In the meanwhile, I was clogging the board with Xenagos's Satyr tokens, a Ghor-Clan Rampager, and a Polukranos. I always blocked. No matter what, I didn't want to be on the receiving end of a Ghor-Clan of his own or another Blood. But at the same time, I was slowly ticking up a Domri Rade. Eventually, I had enough to Ultimate him, and I felt back in control (despite the life difference being 4 to 22). At this point he dropped his own Polukranos and monstrous'd it up to 7. He attacked, but I had my own Polukranos and a Satyr token (both with Double-strike) block his Hydra while my Mutavault blocked his 4/4 Ooze. He almost missed that his Ooze would die via Double-Strike, but pumped it one more time. When he tried to send his Mutavault at me next turn, I Monstrous'd Polukranos and killed it before he could declare it as an attacker. At one point, he attacked his 9/9 ooze into my 8/8 Polukranos (with Double Strike). I chose to block and offered the trade. But he didn't seem to agree and called a Judge over. He disputed the fact that both creatures would die (I guess he didn't understand Double Strike?). And seemed very sour after the Judge told him otherwise. He was still at 20 life, by this point, but I had Xenagos and a pair of Satyr tokens still on the field. I drew another Domri and eventually ticked him up to 9!!! That final Domri activation drew me a Stormbreath and I attacked for exactly 20.

Round 9 vs. Jonathan (GR Monsters)Game 1: Having just come off 2 wins against the mirror, I felt pretty good. I started off very strong, hitting a turn-3 Polukranos; then on turn 4 I swung him to 15 and dropped Kalonian Hydra. He had no answer for it and scooped.

Game 2: This was a HELL of a game. We both hit Turn 2 Domris, but he managed to ultimate his first, and kill mine. During this exchange, however, I'd managed to drop him to 16 and Overload a Mizzium Mortars to help clear his board. But at this point I was feeling some pressure. A Domri Emblem is damn-near impossible to beat. Still, I was at 18, and attacked with a Polukranos to drop him to 11. He held back his Satyr the next turn, so I knew he was representing a trick. So I dropped a Stormbreath and hit him to 7 while keeping Polukranos as a blocker. Next turn he attacked his Boon Satyr into my Polukranos and Shocked it, saving his Satyr (via Double Strike) and dealing me 5 damage and dropping a Scavenging Ooze with 2 open green mana. With two cards in his hand, and all my mana open, I knew he didn't have an out. I monstrous'd Stormbreath, dealing him 2 damage (and knocking him to 5). He saw his two mana could bring him back to 7, but he had no defense for my flying dragon.

Round 10 vs. Dustin (???) 2-0
We never actually played. I sat down and was chatting with the people around me. Dustin came by and offered the split, but I didn't want to go X-3-1 (since that really reduced your points), and everyone else agreed that it wouldn't get us anything. We were better off playing. Dustin seemed upset, and signed the slip 2-0 for me. I guess he just didn't want to play.

Overall Thoughts and Reaction
I had a blast that night. It was after 11 by the time we left. Nearly 12 hours of competitive MTG. That was the most I'd ever done. In the end, it was only my friend and I still in the runnings for prizes. We both scored 21 points, but he ranked 51[SUP]st[/SUP] because of his tiebreaker points (and his losses only came towards the later rounds). My two early-round losses hurt my score more than his did, so despite the fact that we had the same points, I didn't place in the top 64 (prize winnings). Still, I managed a 79[SUP]th[/SUP] place in my first SCG event. I'm not at all disappointed.

Cards that did well: Mizzium Mortars and Kalonian Hydra were great. When I played them, they did exactly what I needed them to. Hydra either forced them to have the removal, or basically won the game on his own. Domri Rade and Xenagos were all-stars, as always. I was also duly impressed by Bow of Nylea.

Cards that under-performed: Boon Satyr. He never really got me all that much. I would have probably liked him in the UW Control game, but didn't see him. I found myself siding him out more than anything else.

In the end, I really enjoyed the event. My friends and I had a blast and felt pretty good about the whole day.

My friends were playing the Legacy Open the next day, so since I was still gonna be at the center, I decided to play the Open Trial for some fun. I finished a bit disappointingly, but I played some key matchups and was overall pretty happy with how I played. I'm confident the only mistakes I made were just not drawing lands. But that's not so much a mistake as it is just some bad luck. The games I lost my opponents simply out-drew/played me. Especially my last round Mono Black opponent. Normally the matchup is very good for me, but sometimes they just have all the answers and there's nothing we can do about it. That's all there is to it. Welcome to variance.

Round 1 vs. Scott (Boros Aggro) 1-2
I swept through Game 1 on the back of a pair of Stormbreath Dragons. There was simply nothing he could do about it. During Games 2 and 3 I was a bit stuck on mana and couldn't get my threats and bodies out fast enough (especially in Game 3—I was stuck on 2 mana for most of the game).

Round 2 vs. William (B/W Midrange) 2-0
This opponent had placed 5th in the Standard Open the day before. I thought I recognized him somehow, but I wasn't sure from where. It was only after the game that we got to talking. I ran him over Game 1 with a Turn 3 Kalonian Hydra into a Turn 4 double Ghor-Clan Bloodrush. Dealt 16 damage in one attack step. He couldn't draw any removal in time. Game 2 was much the same. He dealt some damage with Mutavaults and some Pack Rats, but I hit for some huge damage with Stormbreath and Polukranos. He eventually cleared my board, but I landed a Xenagos and kept the pressure on.

Round 3 vs. Jonathan (Mono Blue Devotion) 2-0
I wasn't excited to play against Mono Blue. Especially after my 0-2 game against it the day before. They can really kill you out of nowhere. Still, you play what you need to, right? I won Game 1 off of a Stormbreath Dragon into an Overloaded Mortars into Kalonian Hydra. Game 2 was a bit dicey. He had Thassa out relatively early and had been smashing me with Frostburn Weird and Tidebinder Mage. He had tapped down my dragon and then turned it into a frog-lizard. I was down to 7 and he had enough mana to make his creatures unblockable. He went all in with Thassa, Frostburn, and Tidebinder. I shocked his Tidebinder, so he pumped his Frostburn to a 4/1. Then I shocked the Frostburn. Thassa stopped being a creature and I took no damage. I then dropped a 7/7 Mistcutter Hydra and that was all she wrote.

Round 4 vs. Cody (Mono Black Devotion) 0-2
While I normally find my Black matchups to be pretty good, that was not the case this round. I put up a decent fight Game 1, but I was soon overwhelmed with Pack Rats and a Gray Merchant, knocking me from 20 to 7. After that there was little I could do. In Game 2 he had removal for everything. Thoughtseize for Ruric Thar, Downfall for Domri, Downfall for Xenagos, Doom Blade for a Dragon. And then the Pack Rats and a Desecration Demon. Sometimes they just have it. And there's nothing we can do about it.

Overall I don't think I did badly, especially for my first weekend at an SCG event. My record in the mirror was 3-0. I went 3-1 against Black decks and 1-1 against Mono Blue. I'm a bit disappointed with how I played against UW Control, but again, sometimes your opponent just has all the answers. Magic is a game of variance and I'm fine with that.

This was the last FNM of the Theros Standard season. I knew I wasn't playing in the BNG midnight prerelease, so I wanted to play a bit of Standard and jam some Monsters right down people's throats. I ended up doing a lot of that. You don't mess with my Monsters.

Round 1 vs. Josh (Golgari Midrange) 1-2
I took Game 1 pretty handily through some combined smashings with Stormbreath Dragon, Scavenging Ooze, and Polukranos, despite him getting a pretty aggressive early start. Game 2 he just had too much too quickly, and I didn't have a way to stabilize and stop him. Game 3 came down to "who had it." I was at 10 and he was at 6. I had 2 Stormbreath Dragons ready to swing in. But he dropped Varolz, sacrificed some creatures, and scavenged them onto his Lifebane Zombie for exactly lethal. Still, I felt pretty good with the matchup. If I'd drawn more of my (admittedly sparse) removal, I would have felt better about it.

Round 2 vs. Bond (Barely Boros Devotion) 2-0Game 1 was pretty easy. I didn't take any damage. I opened with a barrage of mana dorks to accelerate me into a Polukranos to his Boros Reckoner. He used Anger of the Gods and redirected the other 3 damage to Polukranos (via the Reckoner) to wipe the board. But I followed up next turn with another Polukranos. Then dropped Xenagos. He was down to 7 at that point, and that was game. Game 2 started with his mull-to-5 and my Turn 2 Domri Rade into double Stormbreath Dragons. He was at 6 and scooped it up.

Round 3 vs. Robert (UWR Control) 2-0
This was an...interesting deck. I'm not sure what was going on, or what the win-con was. Maybe Elspeth? It looked like he was having some mana issues at first. Game 1 was a blow-out. I landed a pretty early Chandra, Pyromaster to keep the pressure up and get me into more cards. He was able to Verdict and draw some cards, but I kept the pressure up. In the end, it was a double Ghor-Clan Bloodrush on a Stormbreath Dragon that sealed the deal. Game 2 was more of the same. I started with an early Xenagos into a 4/4 Mistcutter Hydra. Knocking him to 12. He D-Sphered my Xenagos and played a Tidebinder Mage to tap down my Satyr Token. But I still hit him down to 4. He played a Sphinx's Revelation to get himself to 8 and hit a Verdict. So I played another threat (Polukranos), forcing him to Verdict Again. I finally dropped a Kalonian Hydra. He drew a few cards with Divination and Quicken, and played a Memory Adept to try and draw another, but didn't have the answer.

Round 4 vs. Akash (Rakdos Human Aggro) 2-1
This was actually a very interesting deck. Combining some cheap-cost humans with Xathrid Necromancer, and all in RB for lots of Aggro. The kid playing was a bit of a...well...he was interesting. Very animated and funny, and I'd have to constantly reel him back in from talking with his friends to finish his turn. It never really got of its feet Game 1. I dropped him from 16 to 4 with a combination of Stormbreath Dragon and Kalonian Hydra. He had nothing for the next turn. Game 2 was the opposite. I was a bit mana-screwed and was forced to use my elves and Mutavault as a chump blocker. That really didn't serve me well. Despite my Scavenging Ooze gaining me some life, his Mogis Marauder made his stuff unblockable. Game 3 was a bit more back and forth. But Chandra and some Stormbreath Dragons quickly shut him out of the game.

Top 8 vs. Houston (Golgari Graveyard Shenanigans) 2-0
This was an interesting sort of deck. Very graveyard dependent (making me wonder how something like a Scavenging Ooze or a Rest in Peace would have hurt him). It used things like Jarad, Nemesis of Mortals, Varolz, and Deadbridge Chant to mess around in the graveyard. In Game 1 he got some early beats on me with Dreg Mangler before I was able to drop my Xenagos and stabilize. I started churning out Satyr tokens to block his 2x (!!!) Nemesis of Mortals. He shot me in the face with a Jarad and dropped Deadbridge Chant. At this point, I was drawing ALL my lands. I had more mana than I knew what to do with. When I finally drew my Polukranos, I immediately went Monstrous for 3 and killed his Jarad, and gave myself some board presence. I was lucky none of his guys had trample, because with all my mana dorks, I was easily able to stop his attacks. I managed to hit him twice with my 8/8 Polukranos, and then dropped my Kalonian Hydra with a few more blockers on the field. He had no way of stopping me...though I still think he could have played smarter and brought his Jarad back to throw one of his snakes at my face. Game 2 wasn't a real game. He played Commune with the Gods twice, and each time he ditched his black mana sources, leaving him with just Forests. Against my Domri Rade and a Stormbreath Dragon, there was nothing he could do.

Top 4 vs. Akash (Rakdos Human Aggro) 2-1
These games played out like the 4th round of Swiss. I don't see much point of rehashing that, I went W-L-W, again. Chandras, Shocks, and Mortars were definite all-stars in the games I won. As were all my big dudes. I'd almost consider playing some number of Anger of the Gods for this matchup, since he seems to do well now. But I'm not all that concerned.

Finals (Top 2) vs. Josh (Golgari Midrange) SPLIT
It was Josh again. And we were tired. I was pretty confident with the matchup, but we decided to split and get some store credit.

Thoughts on the night:
I was overall unimpressed by Flesh//Blood tonight. I don't know if I ever actually cast it. I think I'd rather have the 4x Mortars mainboard. Kalonian Hydra was, despite all his negative press, a star. It's a must-answer threat. And people don't always have that answer. I've become very good at reading board-states, I realize. And figuring out when the best time to drop a threat is vs different strategies. I've gotten really good at exhausting Control of its answers. And making sure my threats outclass the Red-based Aggro decks. Pretty happy with the night.

Tournament Report – March 1st, 2014 Born of the Gods Game Day
Coy's Comics // Saginaw, MI
Record: 3-0
​

I'd done a single FNM since BNG came out, going 4-1 and losing in Top 8 to a hardcore mana-screw, still managed 5th place. That was the first I'd played with Jund Monsters, and other than the mana screw I really liked the way the deck played. I made a few tweaks and changes, and then decided to go to Game Day with my updated list. I finally upped my Reaper of the Wilds count to 4x, since they're just so good in almost EVERYTHING. I cut a Xenagos, the Reveler to make room for it, and moved that cut Xenagos to the sideboard, which still gave me 2 of the Planeswalker and 2 of the God versions to bring in against Control and the mirror.

So it's basically a stock Jund list with a few personal touches, I'm well aware. And in truth, the stock list is probably better tuned and more efficient. All the same, I really like the Xenagos, the Reveler in the main and board. Sometimes he's a cast-no-spells threat against Control. Other times he just ramps you a bit and fixes you for red mana (which, for some reason, I had a tough time with). Xenagos, God of Revels won me the one game I saw him in, and he's really cool with a Reaper of the Wilds.

I'm not sure if the second set of Xenagos's in the sideboard are necessary. But I like the ability to go big. They did work for me against a more Midrange Jund list last week, so...

Anyway, the three round were the following:

R1 vs. Chris O. (UWR Control): 2-1
More heavily in Red with things like Counterflux and Stormbreath Dragon, I'm guessing for the mirror. I didn't have any offensive going in Game 1, so even though I dropped him to 5, he had the AEtherling to kill me dead. He brought in the Stormbreaths against me in G2. Which...didn't work out for him. I had too many things. Game 3 I drew all my great Sideboard cards. Never got to use the Rakdos's Return though, since Stormbreath killed him dead anyway. Extra dead. Because he Rev'd into my 7 mana.

R2 vs. Chris A. (Mono-White No-Rare Enchantment Aggro): 2-1
It's a weird deck, yes, but he's been killing it with this recently and FNM. I'm pretty sure I could have 2-0'd this, but it took me until turn...3 or 4 for me to hit more than 1 mana in G1. By the time I dropped my Stormbreath Dragon, he had lethal. Game 2 and 3 was easy. Stormbreath was very good. Game 3 he got greedy, keeping a 1-mana, 1-dude, 4-Ethereal Armor hand. I opened with a 4 land, 2 Dreadbore hand. And I killed his guy. And he had no 2nd land all game.

R3 vs. Jeff K. (UWr Control): 2-0
He was only playing Warleader's Helix and Assemble the Legion with his Red. And I had no issues with it. He also got stuck on 4 or 5 lands both games. In Game 1 I landed a Xenagos, God of Revels and a Reaper of the Wilds. Hexproof and hugeness was a BIG win. In Game 2 when he finally got a Supreme Verdict, he tapped out and left himself open to a Rakdos's Return. And that, along with Xenagos, the Reveler and 3 Stormbreath Dragons sealed the game for me.

FNM was fun this week. A few of the guys were planning on going to a Grand Prix Trial (GPT). I was still not certain if I'd go. So I just decided to jam some FNM and get some more wins. I went with Jund, making only a few changes to the main and sideboards since my win on Gameday. I only took sparse notes on the matches, so I'll just summarize them as best I can. As always, here's the decklist.

Round 1 vs. Jacob M. (RW Burn): 2-1
I was on the play Game 1 and took a commanding lead. I realized he was playing the Satyr Firedancer deck, but felt pretty good about it. I had Courser of Kruphix and Reaper of the Wilds out early doing lots of damage and keeping me drawing relevant things. In sideboarding, I over-estimated his skill, and took out some of my removal, thinking that he'd take out his creatures since they didn't really do much against me. I was wrong. And that, with a mull-to-6 cost me that game. Game 3 I re-sideboarded and took care of business. I never dropped below 15 life thanks to Courser of Kruphix, a lot of good removal, and Scavenging Ooze.

Round 2 vs. Josh O .(Golgari Aggro): 1-2
I can never beat this guy. We always go to Game 3, and I lose with either a flood or a drought of mana. He took game 1 off the back of a Lifebane Zombie bestowed with Boon Satyr and Herald of Torment. Game 2 I took over with big creatures and his lack of removal. Game 3 came down to my flood. I fought as best I could, but there was just too much mana on top of my deck.

Round 3 vs. Shawn M. (Mono Black Devotion): 2-0
I honestly don't even remember this round. Other than that I was doing very well. I'm very happy with the MonoBlack matchup once becoming a Jund Monsters list. It gives you the removal to take the game handily.

Round 4 vs. Michael P. (GR Devotion/Monsters): 2-0
This matchup highlights just how good the Jund deck is in the mirror. Having main-deck removal that can take care of their Planeswalkers and big creatures while they're stuck trying to burn you out with Mizzium Mortars really makes you appreciate the black splash. Both games came down to my removal spells. Though he was able to get me down to 6 in the second game with a timely Ghor-Clan Bloodrush. Still, all my removal was just too much for him. And I felt in control the entire match.

Round 5 vs. Chris O. (UWR Control): Draw
We decided to intentionally draw so we'd be in Top 8 Nonetheless...

Top 8 vs. Chris O. (UWR Control): 2-1
We had to face each other in the first round of elimination. Game 1 was solidly in my favor. Hitting with Mutavault early, and landing a Reaper of the Wilds with protection mana. Reaper is great because if enough of your stuff dies, you just get to dig for your next big creature...Stormbreath Dragon. Game 2, my start was just WAY too slow, and he was able to stabilize and start using Sphinx's Revelation. Even though I was at 22, there was no way for me to put anything out on the field with his full grip of counterspells. Game 3 was a face-stomy game. I came out very strong. Attacking hard with Reaper and Stormbreath. In the end, he was Sphinx-ing for 1 and 2. And not able to handle my Rakdos's Return.

Top 4 vs. Erik F. (Naya Aggro): 2-1
I won the first game off of a huge misplay on Erik's part. I'd managed to land a Polukranos and hit him to 13, then pass with 5 mana open. With his 4 mana, he tried to put an Unflinching Courage on his Dryad Militant. Which gave me the option to Monstrous for 2, aiming at the Militant and the Soldier of the Pantheon. He had to respond with Brave the Elements, naming Green, which made Courage fizzle off. I attacked for 7, and he scooped next turn. Game 2 I kept a much too slow hand and he ran me over. Game 3 was back in my wheelhouse. He was lacking red mana for the longest time, so I wasn't worried about Ghor-Clans or anything of the sort. Reaper of the Wilds and Stormbreath Dragon helped seal the game.

Finals vs. Sam V. (Bant Walkers): Draw
It was Midnight. And we were both tired.

Thoughts for the night:
I was very happy with the maindeck Abrupt Decays. They were so much better than the Mortars. I was a bit disappointed with Sire of Insanity, since it was always getting countered when I played it. I might just prefer a third Rakdos's Return.

Saturday was the GPT for Cincinnati. I knew I wasn't going to make it to the GP due to personal reasons and being insanely busy. So I decided I'd go out, play some Magic, and do as well as I can without screwing my friends out of top spots. I figured that if I played against my friends, I'd give them the win and let them advance further in points. Because I'm a good guy like that.

As it happened, regardless of my plans, I didn't end up playing my and of my friends until the last round. So despite not really intending on doing all that well, I took second place. Again, here's the deck I played:

Round 1 vs. Jason B. (Minotaur Tribal): 2-0
This match was essentially a freebie. Minotaurs are, generally speaking, not a viable Standard archetype. Certainly not when compared to Jund Monsters. To be fair, I did struggle a bit with drawing the right creatures game 1, so he hit me down to 10. But once I got Reaper of the Wilds and Polukranos online, he was done. The same thing happened game 2. Except I was up to 24 off Ooze and Courser.

Round 2 vs. Jameson P. (BW Control): 2-0
The first game felt sweet. He hit my Turn 1 Elf with Bile Blight, but I landed a Caryatid and a Turn 4 Stormbreath to knock him to 16. I landed a 2nd dragon the next turn and sacrificed the Caryatid to punch through another 8 damage. I had a Mutavault out, he took 1 damage from Underworld Connections to draw. Found nothing for removal, and we went to the next game. Game 2 was much more back and forth. I was stuck on mono-green mana for the first few turns so I could avoid taking damage and get a Courser of Kruphix out. That still let him put a Pack Rat down uncontested for a few turns. He dropped Lifebane, but I had no green creatures in hand so he whiffed. My Courser got me a few points of life throughout, but he swung in for big damage with a pair of rats and a zombie, forcing me to block the rats. He then discarded his last two cards to make the rats 4/4s and kill my Courser. All the same, I had revealed a Mizzium Mortars off the top of my library, and got to overload it the next turn. He had a single Mutavault, though I was at 8 life. I dropped my Stormbreath Dragon and hit him to 10 and was hit to 6 in return. He was just drawing lands. I finally got to drop the Whip of Erebos, and started gaining my life back. There was nothing he could do to stop me.

Round 3 vs. Jake C. (Jund Monsters): 2-0
These were a couple of very easy wins. A lot of the Jund mirror depends on your draws. I guess I drew better, or maybe I just out-played him. Dreadbore and Ultimate Price worked overtime, getting rid of his creatures and allowing mine to bash his Planeswalkers. Not much to report.

Round 4 vs. Jeff K. (UW Control): Draw
We were locked for Top 8 as long as we drew the next two rounds. So we decided to draw.

Round 5 vs. Ben D. (Mono Black): Draw
We were locked for Top 8 as long as we drew the next two rounds. So we decided to draw.

Top 8 vs. Eric C. (GR Monsters): 2-0
This was very much like the Jund match, except even more lopsidedly in my favor. He had some aggression in Game 1, knocking me down to 9 with cards like Ghor-Clan Rampager. But my removal was just too much. Game 2 I didn't take a single point of damage. I managed to get a Domri emblem, and he didn't have anything to do against me. When we were packing up I saw him holding Fated Conflagration in the deck. The difference between that card and something like Ultimate Price in the mirror is astronomical.

Top 4 vs. Scott R. (Mono Blue): 2-1
This was GR's hardest matchup. And Jund makes the match a little better, but it's still probably one of the worst for me. Game 1 showed it. He managed to rip all 4 of his Tidebinder Mages to tap down my creatures, and kept bashing in with Thassa. It took me too long to get my footing, and he ran me over. Games 2 and 3 were the exact opposite. I kept hands of mono-removal, which meant his field consisted solely of Thassa. And that's it. I ended Game 2 at 18 life after going up to 23. Game 3 he put my Domri (at 6) under a Pithing Needle. But I had an Abrupt Decay in hand, which allowed me to put Domri to 7 and then Ultimate. With my hexproof and doublestriking creatures, I hit him from 20 to 6 in one hit, and then finished him off next turn.

Finals/Top 2 vs. Jeff K. (UW Control): Intentional Drop
I dropped intentionally to give Jeff the win. He's a friend, and he's actually GOING to the Grand Prix in Cincinnati, so I thought that was the better thing to do. We ended up splitting the prize packs almost in reverse. He got 16 packs instead of 24 and I got 20 packs instead of 12.

Final Thoughts:
I had a blast. I only lost a single game all night, and that was to my admittedly worst matchup. I went with 8 other friends. Of the 9 of us, 4 of us went to the Top 8, and 3 of us managed to Top 4. We crushed.

And I ended up opening about $80 in value from my Prize Packs just from a Kiora, Mogis, foil Spirit of the Labyrinth, and Temple of Enlightenment. And a bunch of bulk rares and a few 2-5$ ones. Not bad for a day's work and $10 entry fee!

After moving back to New York and not playing some competitive IRL Magic for...almost 20 days. I'd played some just-for-fun games against friends and did a bit of online testing, but no FNM since March 7th, and no competitive events since the GPT on March 8th. So I was happy to be getting back into the swing of things.

Standard at this store is a much smaller affair than Standard at Coy's, which regularly gets somewhere from 18-26 players for Standard FNMs. UR had 15 players this week, which meant someone would get a Bye.

I went with my usual Jund Monsters list. Though I changed up the sideboard a bit in preparation. Here's what I was running:

I'll do a quick summary of the rounds, since I didn't bother taking too many notes.

Round 1 - BYE
So after driving 15 hours from Michigan, and not playing Magic in 20 days...I get a bye and don't play the first round. Eh. Fine. I got to scope out the competition. I saw some Black decks, an Esper deck, two Jund decks, a RW Burn/Aggro deck, and some bizarre 4 or 5-color Phenax deck.

Round 2 vs. Vincent (Mono-Black Devotion) 2-0Game 1 was a bit difficult, though I had a strong opening. He ended up wasting his turn 2 Bile Blight on my Elvish Mystic, which ended up coming back to bite him when I started powering out Satyrs with Xenagos, the Reveler. His Desecration Demon kept me sacrificing guys, and his Gray Merchant brought him from 6 to 10 life. I played a Xenagod to keep the damage coming, even though all I was working with was a trio of Satyr tokens, an Elf, and a Mutavault. I finally pounded him down to 2, sacrificed a Satyr on his turn to tap down his demon, and then gave my Elvish Mystic the Xenagos pump. I attacked with 2 Satyrs, a Mutavault, and the Elf. He had a tapped demon, a Gray Merchant, and a Rat with 3 untapped mana. I just barely killed him. Game 2 wasn't nearly as close. Courser of Kruphix kept me gaining life and hitting him for 2. Thoughtseize did a lot of my work for me. I was happy for him to take damage. Eventually, Polukranos and Domri Rade got the job done with me at 19 life.

Round 3 vs. Vitorio (Jund Monsters) 2-1Game 1 was rough. Even though I was on the play, I mulled a double RB-land hand…into another double-RB land hand. It took me too many turns to get that green mana, and by then he was just too far ahead on board. Game 2 was a slobber-knocker. I opened a hand with elves, mana, and caryatids. And kept it. I ended up ramping huge and powering out a Polukranos. My removal kept his board cleared. However, I was still stuck on two lands: Overgrown Tomb and Forest. I luckily had 3 each of Caryatid and Mystic. And even with my Stormbreath Dragon, I was pretty dead to an overloaded Mizzium Mortars. I was lucky in that he didn't draw it. He did, at one point, draw a Dragon and I forced it to trade with my own. Eventually, I just took all his resources, and finished him off with a Rakdos's Return. Game 3 was the opposite of Game 1. He managed a Turn 1 Elf, but didn't play a second land. I punished him by hitting the elf with a Mortars and playing a Polukranos next turn, while he only had a second forest. He conceded when he didn't draw another land.

---

I ended the night pretty happy with how things played out. I was worried in R3 that Vitorio would be breaking my undefeated streak in the mirror, but I powered through to win and continue my streak as the King of the Monsters.

Tournament Report – August 9th, 2014
Star City Games Open // Syracuse, NY
Record: 7-3-0
Final Standing: 37th place
​

Now that I live in Syracuse, I was excited to be in town for the SCG Open. I made sure months in advance to get the Saturday off. Going into the tournament, I was trying to decide between the Jund Planeswalkers or the Jund Monsters decks. I have a whole lot of experience with Monsters, but the Planeswalker deck seemed pretty good too. In the end, I made a quick decision to play what I was familiar with rather than just the deck of the moment.

Round 1 vs. Benjamin K. (Mono-Blue Devotion) 2-0
I won the dice roll and was off to a good start, even with a mull-to-6. I saw the Turn 1 Cloudfin Raptor, I knew not to drop my Turn 1 Elvish Mystic. I just played removal and Sylvan Caryatid until I was sure he wasn't holding a Tidebinder Mage anymore. After that point, my Scavenging Ooze came down and began eating up his graveyard. I shut Thassa down and put him to bed. In Game 2 it was a lot of the same. I kept a very greedy hand with 3 removal spells, 1 land, 2 Caryatid, and an Ooze. I drew a land on my first turn and knew I was okay. My removal was enough to keep him off Nightveil Specter and Master of Waves, even though I was rather limited on mana at first. Polukranos and Mistcutter Hydra came down as finishers, and that was that.

Round 2 vs. Brian H. (Generator Jund) 2-1
I found myself playing against another Syracuse local, someone who I'd played at FNM a few weeks prior. He was on a Generator Servant sort of deck, which ramped out very quickly. He'd talked about it before and had mentioned Underworld Cerberus, so I knew it was an issue. He took Game 1 pretty solidly off of a Stormbreath Dragon. Game 2, however, ended with me ramping into Polukranos and 2 consecutive Rakdos's Return (for 2 and 3). All he had left were Caryatids, and my Hydra proved superior. Game 3 really wasn't a game. He was forced to mulligan to 3, and that was really all it took.

Round 3 vs. Timothy D. (Rabble-Red) 2-0
This was my first experience playing against the Rabble Red deck. I knew I had to rely on things like Sylvan Caryatid, Scavenging Ooze, Courser of Kruphix, and Polukranos if I was going to win. Both games boiled down to the Ooze and the Courser. In the second game, my opponent knocked me to 1 life 3 times! But because of my plethora of removal, there were lots of creatures in the graveyard for me to eat. Eidolon of the Great Revel almost cost me the match, but I was able to kill it with Polukranos before it forced me to take too much damage. At the end of game 2 I was at 4 life and he was left with only a Rabblemaster on the field against my Poly, Courser, Ooze, and Caryatid. I had considered killing the rabblemaster with an Ultimate Price on my turn, but I decided to leave mana up for one last Ooze activation. It's a good thing I did, because he ripped a Stoke the Flames off the top. I scrambled and used my ooze once more to survive at 1! And that was all she wrote.

Round 4 vs. Jared Boettcher (B/u Devotion) 2-0 [FEATURE MATCH]
This round was probably my favorite round of magic I've ever played, for a number of reasons. One, it was my first feature match and round on camera. Two, I was 4-0 and playing against the Pro Tour Rookie of the Year in Jared. Three, I got to represent TCGplayer.com (who I work for) wearing the bright blue. Four, I and all my friend watching had an absolute blast. Five: I won. I'm not going to post the details of the match here. Instead I'll just link to the coverage video of it.

Round 5 vs. Paolo C. (UW Cleansing Control) 2-0
Neither of the games were very difficult for me. A lot of fighting against UW (especially the Cleansing route) is simply not running all your threats into a sweeper. In game 1, I attacked with Oozes, Mutavaults, and Satyrs, and finally Bloodrushed for exactly lethal. Game 2 was a lot more of the same, with me holding back threats until I could protect them with Golgari Charm. Even when my board was wiped, I managed to snag a Stormbreath Dragon off the top and finish him off.

Round 6 vs. Jeremy S. (Mono-Black Devotion) 1-2
My first loss of the night was not a fun one. I took the first game pretty handily, but games 2 and 3 were much more difficult. And I found myself dying to combinations of Pack Rats and Grey Merchant.

Round 7 vs. Jacob B. (BW Midrange) 1-2
As with the last round, I took the first game pretty handily. Though Game 2 ended with me being beaten down by an Obzedat. Game 3 might have ended differently if I'd drawn a red source, but I was a bit stuck on mana for quite some time, and I drew all my Polukranos, leaving me with cards stranded in hand and Pack Rats bearing down.

Round 8 vs. Scott C. (Mono-Black Devotion) 2-1
Finally I got my vindication. As with the other rounds, I took the first game without much difficulty. Grey Merchant got me in the second game, but Dragons and continuous pressure let me take the second game without much difficulty at all.

Round 9 vs. Andrew Y. (Naya Hexproof) 0-2
These were some of the fastest games of Magic I've ever played, and my opponent clobbered me. Without a way to deal with his hexproof creatures, I was overrun in game 1. In game 2, I was stuck on 1 mana for too long and was unable to get my defenses going.

Round 10 vs. Michael G. (GW Aggro) 2-1
I put up a valiant struggle game 1, but a quick Advent of the Wurm and Selesnya Char sealed it for him. In games 2 and 3, double Stormbreath Dragons made short work of whatever he tried to send my way. The best part about this match, however, wasn't that I won. It was the fact that my opponent said he'd been following my progress throughout the day. That was insane. It felt great.

There were some standout all-stars for the day. Stormbreath Dragon, Scavenging Ooze, and Golgari Charm were the real deal, as expected. Xenagos is fantastic, obvi. I never actually got to play Vraska or Garruk, so I can't really comment there. Though I imagine there are better options for me over big daddy-G. In the future, I'd like to try and play some number of Nissa, Worldwaker or Liliana Vess in the deck, and I think Devour Flesh really shores up a miserable hexproof match for me. I'm not sure what else I could play (other than Glaring Spotlight), but devoting whole sideboard slots for JUST that matchup seems bad.

In the end though, I finished 37th, high enough to cash $50. I got to be on SCGLive and represent TCGplayer.com (the company I work for), and I beat the Pro-Tour Rookie of the Year on camera. All in all, it was a pretty awesome weekend.

With a pPTQ only 40 minutes away, I decided to take a trip with some friends and TCGplayer co-workers to make a day of it. The event was Modern, and I'd only played a grand total of four or so other events in the format with the old Jund Midrange deck and Jeskai Midrange-Control, and NONE since Khans had come out; warping the format with Jeskai Ascendancy, Treasure Cruise, and Dig Through Time. With that in mind I decided to just jam one of the most powerful decks in the format: UR Delver.

The fact that I'd played a literal 0 actual games with the deck speaks volumes to its power level. On top of all that, I played like garbage at multiple times throughout the event...which was both embarrassing and unfortunate. Here's a quick rundown of the day.

Round 1 vs. Antonio E. (Mono-Green Aggro) 2-1: I started on the play and took quite a beating. Strangleroot Geists and Scavenging Ooze were tough to deal with. In the end, a Vines of the Vastwood and Become Immense took me out. Games 2 and 3 were quite the opposite. Both games I was able to accrue a critical mass of Young Pyromancer tokens and keep him from dealing any damage. In both of the final games, Hibernation was a blow out. Even taking him back on mana by bouncing his Dryad Arbor.
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Round 2 vs. Anthony W. (G/R Valakut) 2-0: My limited knowledge of the Modern format was apparent this round, and I was almost unaware of what my opponent was playing. I knew he had Valakut, Primeval Titan, and Through the Breach due to a timely Gitaxian Probe in Game 1. Because of that I figured he was attempting some sort of reanimation strategy and would have Emrakul as well. It didn't really matter. I was able to get 2 Monastery Swiftspear online early and deal increasingly huge amounts of damage. Game 2 was a lot grindier. And he was able to get a Thragtusk out. I was happy to trade it with a Swiftspear, and my Vapor Snags kept him from attacking with his Titan. In the end, a timely Hibernation let me push damage through the last turn.
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Round 3 vs. Rob S. (Temur Delver) 1-1-1: This was a tough match. And we were forced to draw. I was able to fight him game 1 through multiple burn spells and Young Pyromancer. Game 2 was the opposite, with him surviving off of Huntmaster and Tarmogoyfs. Game 3 I felt quite in control, but we went to time and that was that.
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Round 4 vs. Dean B. (Burn) 2-0: This was a tough one, and I played VERY sloppily; a combination of play-fatigue and inexperience with the deck. Game 1 he was stuck on two lands, which let me get my feet underneath me long enough to counter his spells and kill his smaller creatures while building up Young Pyromancer tokens to go in for the kill. In Game 2 he was stuck on a single land, and I had multiple removal and counters in hand to take care of him.​

Top 8 vs. Connor R. (Temur Delver) 2-0: In the end, we would play each other again. However, Connor had to leave early since his ride was leaving. He gave me the win and wished me the best of luck.
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Top 4 vs. Jason P. (Naya Zoo) 0-2: This is, all things considered, a rough matchup. And I fumbled big-time all throughout it. I was tired. I hadn't planned on being there that long. My wife was waiting for me. And my dog needed to be fed. I tried to Fork Bolt his 3/3 Wild Nacatl, and thankfully had another in hand when I realized my flub. But between three 4/5 Tarmogoyfs and two 4/4 Loxodon Smiters, I didn't have much chance to begin with.
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All in all I had a great time. Despite my inexperience with both the deck and the format, I was able to Top 4 a 30 person event. The deck is VERY strong. And I'm going to continue working with it for as long as I feel it's a viable archetype in Modern (at least...until Treasure Cruise is banned). I'm going to try working on a Temur Delver list. My Round 3 opponent was playing a lot of cool cards, and I really want o try them out.

I hadn't played in a competitive Standard event since the release of Fate Reforged, nor had I played in one during the latter few weeks. I'd played in one of the last (actual) PTQs in the area with the 4-Color Soul/Delve deck. I brought both the 4-Color Delve deck and the Temur Monsters deck with me for the event, eventually deciding on Temur because of my familiarity with the archetype, and the plethora of U/B Control lists I was expecting.

Fate Reforged brought a bunch of new cards for Temur: Shaman of the Great Hunt, Yasova Dragonclaw, Wild Slash, and Reality Shift. I had contemplated things like Flamewake Phoenix, Frost Walker, Monastery Siege, and Whisperwood Elemental; but the Phoenix seemed less impressive than my current 3-drops and unable to turn on Ferocious by itself. Frost Walker was a bit too fragile for my tastes. Monastery Siege didn't have enough immediate impact. And Whisperwood Elemental competed with Stormbreath Dragon, Surrak Dragonclaw, and Nissa, Worldwaker for 5-drop spots.

Round 1 vs. Derek P. [UB Control] 2-0 WIN
Getting paired against Derek was both hilarious and unfortunate...for him. I was his worst matchup, and we've played enough games for him to know the matchup inside and out...and that it was basically a freebie for him. When most of my deck reads: "you take 4," then it's hard for a control deck to come back from that. Indeed, when backed up by counter magic like Stubborn Denial and Disdainful Stroke it's almost impossible. Game 2 ended off the back of a timely Surrak Dragonclaw coming down on his end step after he had exhausted all his removal spells.

Round 2 vs. Orren T. [Jeskai Tokens] 2-1 WIN
Jeskai Tokens is one of the deck's hardest matchups. Game 1 was close. With both of us at 2 while he had the last pieces of burn to take me out. I misused Yasova; instead of attacking with her, I should have just continued to steal his creatures and hold her back. Instead he was able to kill her in combat and keep me on the back foot. Game 2 was different. I had compete control. Arc Lightning and Wild Slash were all stars in keeping his board clear. Game 3 was much closer. But those same cards kept me from dying.

Round 3 vs. Jake K. [RW Aggro] 1-2 LOSE
The RW deck shares many cards with Jeskai, so the matchup is equally difficult. I was able to take Game1 pretty handily. Though I stumbled in Game 2. In the clincher, I kept 1 land mull-to-6 and didn't hit the second land until it was way too late.

Round 4 vs. Stephen R. [RW Aggro] 2-1 WIN
I managed to take the last two games of this round. I wasn't able to get my footing in the first though. As with Jeskai Tokens, Wild Slash and Arc Lightning were all stars. And between them and my much larger creatures, I took the last two.

Round 5 vs. Andrew G. [Sultai Control] 1-1-1 ID
After doing some quick math, we both realized we were locked in for Top 8 as long as we drew.

Quarterfinals (Top 8) vs. Andrew G. [Sultai Control] 2-0 WIN
As it always seems to go, I end up playing my draw from the previous round of Swiss I. The Top 8. He was on Sultai Contril. But like UB, these matchups are very easy. I took damage from my fetch and pain lands, and that was it. Everything else was my creatures pushing through.

Semifinals (Top 4) vs. Carlos C. [GR Aggro] 2-0 WIN
It had been quite a while since I'd played a GRx mirror. I was undefeated in Monsters Mirrors lifetime during the RTR-THS era standard, and was hoping to continue my streak through this season too. Game 1 was tough, but I had it in the bag. He was a bit more Aggro-centric than my build, which allowed me to slow down and take a punishing route. The end was a Crater's Claws to the dome. Game 2 was VERY close. He got me down to 2, while I swung to clear his entire board except an elvish mystic and drop him to 1. He drew an Ashcloud Phoenix that I saw revealed off ofCourser of Kruphix. And I was pretty sure I was set. Then he revealed a Chandra, and I thought I was dead; thinking he could cast the Chandra, ping me, and attack for lethal with his elf. His lands, however, betrayed him. One of his 4 lands was a Mana Confluence, and he wouldn't have been able to cast Chandra and attack on the same turn.

Finals vs. Zach M. [RW Aggro] 0-2 LOSE
Zach and I split the prize payout before playing and decided to just play for the invite to the Regional PTQ. I did my best Game 1, and almost had it. But some timely burn put me out of range. By the start of Game 2, I'd been playing for more than 7 hours and was tired. I took a mulligan to 6 and kept a hand with 4 Elvish Mystics and 2 lands...they almost got me there. But in the end it just took me WAY too long to get anything going.
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Here are my general sideboard notes for the day, broken down by archetype.

Notes: If they're playing Green, they often end up playing Kiora. In that case it's sometimes right to keep a Wild Slash in as insurance. Elvish Mystics are also notoriously bad Topdecks, so if you're on the draw, you don't mind removing one.

Notes: Sometimes it feels right to bring in Back to Nature. It's a solid card when your opponent is casting Chained to the Rocks and Jeskai Ascendency. I'm still not sure if that's the right thing to do though.

Notes: I brought out a lot of 1-ofs because I wasn't quite sure which of them was best/worst in this matchup. The deck runs a lot of 4/2 creatures, so with my opponent playing Magma Jet and Lightning Strike I knew they probably weren't great. There was, of course, the chance that the opponent sided-out those burn spells, but having those out already seemed like a good idea.

Overall I had a great time. The deck performed really well, even if I didn't at times. Would I play this deck again? Absolutely. I'm still King of the Monsters.

So I decided to go to this Grand Prix Trial that was about 20 minutes from my LGS (we have 4 card stores in the county I live in). After my awful performance at FNM last week, I built a new deck and playtested it quite a bit. I'll post the lise at the end of the post.

But onto the report, there were 19 players so 5 rounds of Swiss, then cut to Top 8

ROUND 1 vs. Rohan (Esper Mill)

Game 1- I lost the dice roll, and ended up on the draw. Had to mull down from 7, and kept a hand of 2 Temple of Plenty, 1 Temple of Abandon, 1 Elvish Mystic, 1 Goblin Rabblemaster, and 1 Whisperwood Elemental, and I drew into a Caryatid. I ended up playing it really aggressively and everything got swept away with removal. He ended up playing an Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver, then a few turns later a Phenax, and a bunch of dudes with high toughness (Nyx-Fleece Ram, Disowned Ancestor and the like). He ended up milling me for like 20 to end the game

Game 2
I again had to Mulligan down to 6 but kept a similar hand to the last game. I played a Revoker and called Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver. He used a Banishing Light on it and I ripped the Erase off the top. I played an Elspeth, Sun's Champion, and he also played one next turn. But I had the Glare of Heresy to deal with that. He kept killing my creature with Bile Blights and the like, and he played out his hand. I would've had the game but time was called before I could bring it back.

Working for TCGplayer is a blast. One of the best things about the company is how much it wants to give back to the community. My supervisors have a ton of amazing long-term ideas for getting involved with the community and giving back in a big way. One of the big Magic-related ones is a charity tournament. We decided that the best thing to do in order to prepare for that would be arming ourselves with as much knowledge and information on how charity events are run as possible. We were lucky to find a 2K charity event at Kirwan's Game Store just a few hours down the road.

I went with two friends and co-workers from TCG: "Cool Guy" Jon, and Dan, the guy who's really pushing for all our community outreach. Traveling with friends is a great way to make time pass quickly, and the 3 hour car ride flew by.

I wasn't expecting much going into the event. I'd played only a little bit of magic post-DTK, finishing pretty dismally at SCGSyracuse with Temur Aggro/Midrange. I was excited watching PT coverage, because I saw all the UBx Control decks. As a die-hard Stubborn Denial player, nothing made me happier than that. So I continued playing with Temur, while Jon brought his PPTQ-winning Abzan Aggro deck, and Dan decided to play "Sidisi-Atarka Whip."

A lot of the sideboard is a concession to the pretty abysmal Mono-Red matchup. The UBx Control match is pretty easy, especially post-board. I was somewhat concerned with the Abzan Aggro matchup, but I wasn't terribly worried about it. Most of the deck's matches want to be the ones where you're on the offensive.

Round 1 vs. Scott M (Mono-Red Devotion) 2-1 - WIN
Interesting deck, and Scott completely ran me over the first game...though I almost had lethal. Game 2 was much better; I had all the right aggression and removal to keep him clear of anything he was going to do. Game 3 was more of a nail-biter; with both of us drawing things out. I had a Hornet Nest and 4 insect tokens out and just slowly chipped away at him over the course of a few turns. He tried one last time to have some blockers in the way, but I landed a Surrak, the Hunt Caller and that was that.

Round 2 vs. Dan F (Sidisi-Atarka Whip) 1-2 - LOSS
I got paired up against my friend Dan this round. And while I ran him over in the first game, he managed to hit Hornet Queen in the second with Whip of Erebos out and I knew I couldn't win. The third game ended with him dropping a Dragonlord Atarka to my 3 lands, and there was no way I was winning that.

Round 3 vs. Mark M (UB Dragon Control) 2-1 - WIN
I noticed that Mark was on the Dragon-Control deck while walking around the venue, so I was feeling pretty confident in the matchup, even though he was on the play. Pre-board I have so many good spells against him, and almost everything I play has haste. The only damage I took all the first game was due to my own pain and fetch lands. Game 2 was different; I opened way too slowly and gave him too much chance to respond to what I was doing. I did manage to knock him down to six, but he'd already stolen 2 of my creatures with Ashiok and countered my last-ditch Crater's Claws for lethal. Game 3 was more of the first. I had insurance against Crux of fate by having a mix of dragons and non-dragons out, was able to counter his AEtherspouts with Stubborn Denial, and just held up threats until he was forced to play on his turn. He ended up unable to do that and just died.

Round 4 vs. Jeremy L (Jeskai Aggro) 2-1 - WIN
This matchup has always been rough for me and Game 1 showed it. He had an insane amount of aggression with Raise the Alarm, Dragon Fodder, and Goblin Rabblemaster...with just enough removal to keep me from doing anything. Game 2 was the opposite. I had everything I needed: Wild Slash for the Rabblemaster, Fanatic of Xenagos, and a Hornet Nest. He hit Anger of the Gods on my board to give me three insect tokens, and I dropped a Surrak next turn to swing for 8 damage. He killed the Surrak and an insect and was forced to 2. Then to 1. And then died. I did the same in Game 3, except this time I hit the Roast on my Hornet Nest to give myself 5 flying attackers.

Round 5 vs. Chris S (Abzan Company) 2-0 - WIN
I had no idea what he was playing at first, but some early attacks and a timely Boon Satyr bestow helped me clear his board. Game 2 came close, he clogged up the ground with Pharika snakes, Coursers, Warrior Tokens, and a Siege Rhino. So even with my Thunderbreak I was in trouble at 3. All the same, I hit a Stormbreath off the top and killed him at the last possible minute.

Top 8 vs. Randall S (Bant Heroic) 2-0 - WIN
The eight of us decided to split the 2K prize evenly since the payout was so top-heavy. In that case we just chose to play for glory. I was feeling no pressure at all against one of my worst matchups in Heroic. Still, I had some early aggression and despite being knocked to 5 I was able to wrap up the win with some Stormbreath and Thunderbreak flying action. Game 2 was even more in my favor. I roasted his 5/5 Hero of Iroas, leaving him with just some 1/2's and 0/4's. He had Encase in Ice for two of my creatures, but Surrak was still on the field giving everyone haste regardless, and I wrapped up the win.

Top 4 vs. Chris P (Esper Dragon Control) 2-0 - WIN
As we sat down, my opponent was very cordial and excitedly explained how happy he was to beat his worst matchup in Mono Red while on the draw last round. I suspected he was on UBx since those decks have a tough time with Mono Red...and that was great news for me! The only damage I ever took that game was to my own lands, and I just continued churning out threats he couldn't deal with. Game 2 was all in my favor. Again I had a good mix of dragons and non-dragons to keep him stuck off Crux of Fate. And I had the Disdainful Stroke for his attempt at a Dragonlord Silumgar. After he tapped out for that, I had enough mana to cast a Xenagos, the Reveler and just continue making 2/2 tokens to join the remaining 11 power on my board and attack with. Not even Ojutai and a Foul-Tongue Invocation could help him.

Finals vs. Jon C (Abzan Aggro) 0-2 – LOSS
Cool Guy Jon is MUCH better at Wizard Squares than I am. He's been playing competitively for MUCH longer and just has a better sense for the game. He's one of the (if not THE) first people I go to when I'm looking for card choices and deck advice. I've played against his Abzan deck a lot, and it's probably 60-40 in his favor. Unfortunately for me, the games in the Finals were pretty solidly in that 60 percentile, and he ran me over pretty handily. Still, we had a great time. Jon is always a blast to play.

All in all I was quite happy with how the day went. Frost Walker was fine, but I'm not sure how happy I was with it throughout the day. I'm going to test Scaleguard Sentinels instead of it. It doesn't turn on Ferocious, but it can become a 3/4 and compete with a good chunk of the rest of the format.

It’s been a long time since anyone posted here and I had a lot of fun so I decided to do a quick write-up. I played a G/R Sarkhan’s Unsealing deck that I just totally love. I only lost a single game all night, but more on that later.

Round 1 vs. W/B Lifegain/Control…something 2-0: Not sure what was really going on here. Game one was pretty easy. I pinged myself a few times off Hashep Oasis to cast my green-heavy hand and started smashing in with Sarkhan’s Unsealings. Game 2 took a while. He played Lost Legacy on my Ghaltas and Carnage Tyrants, and put Rekindling Phoenix and Steel Leaf Champion under Ixalan’s Binding. So it took me a real while to kill him. He was a turn away from activating Profane Procession and cleaning me out, but I dropped a Regisaur Alpha off the top, domed him for 4 with Sarkhan’s Unsealing, and attacked with Rhonas and my dinosaurs.

Round 2 vs. 4-color Dragons 2-0: Really interesting deck, but it needed a lot of things to come together. He was playing a non-blue version of the deck, leaning heavily into Red to use Demanding Dragon, Glorybringer, Sarkhan Fireblood, Chandra, etc. My deck was a lot leaner and had a lot of things he just couldn’t handle, like a 2nd turn Steel Leaf Champion or Rhonas. Both games were pretty much the same thing back and forth.

Round 3 vs. G/W Cats Tribal 2-1: This deck was super cool. All the low-cost cats in Standard backed up by blossoming defense, Regal Caracal, and then a billion anthem effects. Game 1 I got buried under the anthems, but Games 2 and 3 I was able to drop Sarkhan’s Unsealings alongside Ghalta and Carnage Tyrant to clear her board and attack with giant haste monsters.

Round 4 vs. W/U God-Pharoah’s Gift 2-0: The deck was really good, but he got started way too slow in game 1 and I was able to clear the Gift off the table with Abrade. Game 2 was the same. I had a Deathgorge Scavenger there to clear his graveyard of relevant threats and between Sarkhan’s Unsealing and the monsters on the board I was able to clear him out.

So yeah. Had a lot of fun. I’m really excited for Guilds of Ravnica and playing with Shocklands again!

It’s been a long time since anyone posted here and I had a lot of fun so I decided to do another quick write-up. I played the G/R Sarkhan’s Unsealing deck that I just totally love. I didn’t lose a single game this time.

Round 1 vs. Mono-Black 2-0: this was a game against a younger kid who only had what I’d categorize as draft chaff with some basic swamps. The rest of the cards were some removal spells but nothing else was particularly noteworthy. I gave her a few tips and suggestions after the match when she asked what else she could be doing with the deck on a basically zero-dollar budget.

Round 2 vs. Jund Dragons 2-0: like last week, except this week he cut the white completely. He had too many 5, 6, and 7 drops, and without either sarkhan or Dragons Hoard he had no real way to bridge that gap so I had him dead pretty easily.

Round 3 vs. R/B Midrange 2-0: this was against the typical build of the deck. In game 1 I got closest all night to losing a game. I’m usually a dog in this matchup but I pulled out game 1 with some huge beaters and aggressive starts. Game 2 I had a lot of aggression and he started way too slow and controlling.

Round 4 vs. G/W Cats 2-0: the same opponent as my round 3 last week. This time I just ran her over both games.